Improvement in cotton-gins



Patented April 25; 1837.

A.- JONES.

Cotton Gin;

PATENT FFIQE.

ALEX. JONES, on NEW ORLEANS, LoUisIAN IMPROVEMENT IN COTTdN-GINS.

Spccificaiion forming part of Letters Patent No. B 80, dated April :5,1837.

To aZZ whom it may concern Be it known that I, ALEXANDER J ONES, of thecity of New Orleans, in the State of Lou isiana, have made certainImprovements in the construction of the cottongin or machine for thecleaning and ginning of cotton and freeing it from dust and seed; and Ido hereby declare that the following is a full and exact descriptionthereof, reference being had to the drawing which accompanies and makesa part of this specification.

My improved gin is in many of its parts similar to the saw-gin ingeneral use. The cylinder of saws, the grate-bars through which theywork, and the brush by which the cotton is removed and thrown off fromthe saws are all of this description; but in the manner of feeding andin the combining of two ginningcylinders and certain other operatingparts auxiliary to this combination, and to be presently described, soas to operate oonjointly in one frame, it differs essentially from suchas have heretofore been used or known.

In the accompanying drawing, which is a vertical section along themiddle of the machine, A A is its frame, which is surmounted by twotunnels or hoppers, 1 1, the bottoms of which hoppers extendfrom oneside of the frame to the other, their ends being vertical. The bottomsof these hoppers consist of curved bars of iron, forming a grating whichextends from front to back of each hopper. The sides of one of thesebars isshown at 2 2. They are at such distance apart as to allow theseed-cotton to be drawn between them by the action of the tooth-platesupon a shaft, which constitute the feeding cylinders or beaters. Theshafts of these cylinders revolve immediately under the hoppers. Thetoothed plates 3 3 upon these shafts are made in the form represented inthe drawing, but the number of teeth upon each plate may be varied.These teeth work betweenthe grate-bars which constitute the bottoms ofthe hoppers, drawing the seed-cotton in between them so as to feed it tothe saws, for the action of which they prepare it in a very advantageousmanner. There is, of course, such a toothed plate to every space betweenthe respective bars. The feeding of the seed-cotton should be regulatedaccording to its particular quality and its state of dryness, which isinfluenced by the weather, as well as by othercircumstances; and toaccomplish this object the hoppers, with their grate bars, are madecapable of being raised or lowered, while the feeding-cylinders retaintheir places, and the feedingteeth are thus made to enter the hoppers toany required distance. 1 This raising and lowering may be effected invarious ways, but that represented in the drawing is at once simple andconvenient. One side of each of them is made to rest upon gudgeons 1212, and the other side is raised or lowered by means of a screw, 7 7.

Under that part of the hoppers where the cotton is drawn in I sometimesplace wire screens extending from side to side of the frame, sections ofwhich screens are shown by the curved lines 13 13. Through these screensparticles of dust will fall into the spaces 14 14, which are partitionedoff from the other parts of the machine, and it will thus be preventedfrom passing onto the saws or brushes. Upon these concaves and undereach bar of the grating forming the bottom of the hopper there is astationary tooth or finger, 11 11, which serves to clear the cotton fromthe teeth of the feeding-cylinders and prevent its being carried upagainst the bars. The cylinders of saws 4 4 work through grate-bars,represented by the curved lines 6 6, and constructed otherwise intheordinary manner. Partition-boards 15 15 cross the frame from side toside and serve to keep the seed against the saws until it is cleaned,and, consequently, so

reduced in size as to pass under the partitions, -and thence fall intothe space 16 left to receive them between the partitions 17 17.Excepting this space 16 the sides of the machine are everywhereinclosed. The brush-wheels 5 5 operate in the usual way, clearing thesaws and driving the cotton out from each end of the machine.

The driving apparatus may be differently constructed and arranged; butthe most direct mode of communicating motion to the saw-shafts is toplace a spur-wheel, 9 9, upon the axle of each, these wheels being ofsuch a size as to gear into each other. The cylinders of saws are thusmade'to revolve in reversed directions. The feeding-cylinders and the ina manner well known. The lower edges of the saw-grates may be raised orlowered, so as to regulate the space between them and thepartition-boards 15 15 by means of the screws 8 S.

In an instrument so well known as the cotton-gin it has not been thoughtnecessary to give any particular admeasnrements or proportions of partsor to designate the number of saws used, as this will vary'aecording tothe power applied and the quantity of work to be done by the machine.

WVhat I claim as my invention, and wish to secure by Letters Patent, is

The within-described method of feeding the cotton to the saws by meansof hoppers and feeding-cylinders, constructed and operatingsubstantially in the way or Upon the principle herein set forth whethersuch feeding a1) paratus be applied to a single machine or to mycombined machine.

ALEXANDER JONES.

\Vi tnesses:

Tnos. N. MORGAN, HIRAM GRAVES.

